If your auto rates go up; here is one reason they may have done so.

If you want a better rate on car insurance call 480-981-6338 for a free rate quote. Rates are going up but we can help you curb the uptrend. See the below article.

AUTO INSURERS RAISE RATES TO KEEP PACE WITH INCREASE IN SEVERITY

Automobile insurers are responding to a prolonged rise in the bodily injury portion of claims by increasing prices to keep pace with loss costs, with several publicly traded insurance companies noting the trend.

“We have seen over the past few years moderately rising claims severity for bodily injury claims, which has mainly been attributed to medical cost inflation,” said Charles Huber, an A.M. Best Co. managing senior financial analyst in the property/casualty ratings division. “A weak economy may also be contributing to higher

liability claims because there is potential for more fraud,” Huber said.

Insurers overall have recognized the trend and have responded

by increasing rates, which have kept earnings stable in the

private passenger auto liability line in recent years, Huber said.

The cost per claim may have two components: bodily injury,

which is the liability portion and includes items like medical bills;

and physical damage, which includes the cost of auto repairs.

“When we look at the results, although claims severity has

been trending upward, we see loss ratios on the auto liability

line being fairly stable,” Huber said. “As a matter of fact, the

loss ratio through nine months is about a point better for 2012

than it was in 2011.”

“The industry has also seen rising auto repair costs in recent years, which would impact the physical damage portion of the auto

cover,” Huber said. Physical damage claims have also gone up due to severe weather and damage from hail and flooding.

“We may see an increase in the physical damage loss ratios in

the fourth quarter of 2012 because of Hurricane Sandy losses,”

Huber said. Through the first nine months of the year … the

auto physical damage loss ratio has been down for the industry.

“That’s pre-Sandy numbers, so just how much impact Sandy

might have on industry numbers for the year we won’t know

until we compile annual statements.”

The insurance industry in 2011 wrote direct private passenger

auto liability premiums of $102 billion, which is a 6.7% increase

from the 2007 figure, according to BestLink, A.M. Best Co.’s online

financial system. The industry in 2011 wrote direct private

passenger auto physical damage premiums of $64.6 billion, a

2.6% decrease from the 2007 figure.

Mercury General saw its bodily injury severity increase in 2012,

Gabriel Tirador, the company’s president and chief executive

officer, said in a recent conference call. The company raised auto

rates in its home state of California by 4% in the fourth quarter,

but he doesn’t think that will be enough to reach the company’s

profitability target this year.

“We believe the increase in severity we are seeing is in part due

to more severe accidents,” Tirador said. “Overall, we have

experienced an increase in medical bills and medical procedures

such as epidural injections.”

Brian MacLean, president and chief operating officer of Travelers

Cos., said during a recent earnings call that severity, particularly

the bodily injury component, has been trending upward for the company. MacLean said the rise has several parts, including

expected general inflation and simply more severe accidents. He said the physical damage portion of severity was elevated in the first half of 2012, but returned in the second half of the year to near-normal levels.